Heir to the Throne
by Prime627
Summary: Megatron has an heir to the throne, and a truce for as long as the child is a baby, but Starscream sees only competition.
1. Chapter 1

The medics were hurrying around, much to Megatron's displeasure. He had a really good medic, once upon a time, a medic that he could depend on. But the child went to the carrier's faction, and so he had to obey tradition.

Aleta was exhausted, pale and sunk in the bed. She pulled the sheets around her skinny body when Megatron walked in, hugging the shadows as he gazed down at her. "It's a boy," she rasped.

His red eyes softened only for her and he took her boney hand. "My heir..."

"To the throne," she finished. "Long live the Decepticons?"

"All hail Megatron," he purred and he kissed her forehead just as the wailings of the baby grew closer.

"It's a boy," the medic said as he offered it to him. Megatron accepted the baby into his arms and he looked down at it.

It was fleshy. Just a ball of flesh over fat over squishy bones. It was hardly dangerous; no teeth, no claws, not even a growl could be used in self-defense. It had crimson hair, which startled Megatron, but when he looked at its mother, he realized that she had some crimson in her hair; the pink was only dyed in, covering her true colors: a mix of brown and red and some flashy blond tucked at the ends.

He gently stroked the sobbing thing's head. It was _his_. _His_ child. He had created this. Where was his traits? No where, drowned out by Aleta's.

"He's yours, I promise you," Aleta sighed.

"I am aware." He frowned down at it and turned the baby around in his arms. "I am just looking for my traits that he should have inherited from me."

"They'll show through later, I promise," she sighed and she sat up, reaching for the baby.

Megatron lowered it into her arms and he sat in the chair beside her. He fell asleep there, and he was roughly jostled awake.

The ceiling was coming down, the medics were screaming, and his lovely Aleta was missing. All that remained in her place was the child, and Megatron grabbed him and ran.

When Megatron was safe, he turned and looked back at the rubble that had been the hospital. Medics were running out with nurses and patients, but Aleta was nowhere to be found.

The child was fussing in his arms, and Megatron glanced down at him. "Shh, shh, shhh..." He grabbed a medic before she could run away and he pulled her close. "Where is my mate? Where is Aleta?"

The nurse was black-haired, purple-eyed, and pale. She wasn't skinny, wasn't round. She was bulky without being cumbersome. Her bulk was pure muscle, and Megatron found it hard to grip her with one hand. "Let me go. I don't know where she went. She got up in the night and left. I don't know!"

Megatron released her to tend to his son. When he finally got him to lay quietly in his arms, he started walking, looking for Aleta, but without finding her. He knew he had to give up..he had to, but he also knew that a part of him would never stop looking for his mate. He sat down heavily and watched his son.

He looked up at the sky and saw the _Nemesis_ fly away. So his own men bombed the hospital. Well, he thought, he could understand. The hospital had an Autobot insignia on the door, and he had ordered all the Autobot buildings distroyed. Optimus had only let him into this one because of his mate, because there was a child involved.

Now Optimus was glaring at him, marching with the Matrix swinging on its golden chain. "What have you done?"

Megatron scrabbled up to his feet, and he winced. Blood was staining his formerly pristine suit. Optimus' eyes instantly softened and he reached out to touch the stain. "Looks as though you are in need of medical attention."

"I have medics." Megatron curled the baby closer, looking up at the Prime, who gazed down at the child.

"He belongs to the Autobots," he whispered.

"He is my child, heir to the Decepticon throne. He is mine."

Optimus sighed and looked at him before looking down at the child, who was curled deep into Megatron's arms, his face pressed into his chest. "Very well...take good care of him."

Megatron backed away from the mech, and he ordered a rescue GroundBridge. He expected the Autobots to charge him, but there was a temporary truce, and there would be until Hot Rod grew up.

"Sir, you let him get away!" Brawn threw down his gun and stared at his leader.

"When Bumblebee was born, Brawn, Megatron gave us a month to raise him. When Rumble and Frenzy were born, we gave them two months to raise them. Now that the little boy is here, we must give Megatron time to raise him."

Brawn snorted and kicked his gun. The man was notorious for throwing fits, but he would recover. He always recovered.

Back on the _Nemesis_ , Megatron was laying his child down on his bed, propping him up with pillows and wrapping him in blankets. He commed his scientist, growling a little when Shockwave said that he would be there _momentarily_.

When Shockwave arrived and treated him, Starscream stood in the doorway, watching the sparkling.

"What is that?"

"It is my heir," Megatron growled and he moved to defend his child from any prying eyes. "The heir to the throne."


	2. Chapter 2

The whip. It was designed to bring down the strongest, most dedicated being to its knees, to make it obey the commands given to it. As Megatron thought this, he bathed. He stood in the shower, facing his son, who was only a few weeks old, and letting him see what had been done to him.

The whip-marks were tragically pretty. Normally, they were pale spiderwebs clinging to his sun-darkened skin, thin on his arms and around his neck and thicker on his trunk, back, and aft. Lower than that and all you would encounter was white scar tissue. His legs were oddly muscled, bulging in some areas and then...nothing. Just a deep divot where there was literally nothing but bone, as if someone had taken a bite out of his leg, and that happened to Megatron more times than he would like to remember. In the steamy water that spurted from the shower head, his scars were pink and fresh-looking, vivid on his tanned skin, but Hot Rod was not afraid. He giggled at his father.

"This is what men do to other men," Megatron growled. He bore fabric hugging his waists to keep his interface equipment hidden from his son, but everything else was visible as he walked to him. "This is what happens when you trust other men."

Hot Rod smiled, flashing a pearly tooth jutting out of his gums. He felt a surge of fierce pride for the little lump of flesh, and his chest expanded with the emotion. He glared at the door when Starscream padded slowly in.

"My lord," the man greeted. He was walking with his brothers, all three holding towels and bars of soap. They were Royals, and Megatron's own scent-free soap did not do the job. They paraded around smelling like roses, like rain, or in Thundercracker's case, like mint. They were not satisfied with scent-free.

Skywarp, with his free hand, saluted the Decepticon lord. Megatron bared his teeth at him and waved the man off. Skywarp was a notorious suck-up, and Megatron wanted nothing to do with him and he wanted Hot Rod to have nothing to do with him either.

"Bathe, will you?" he huffed. He pulled his son into his arms, pressed him into his chest.

"What a cute little thing," Skywarp purred. He moved closer anyway, despite Megatron's warning growls. "He's growing up so fast. You know, my lord, he looks just like you."

Megatron stopped at that and his lip dropped over his teeth. Skywarp was a professional suck-up, pilot, and flatterer. "Mm."

"Skywarp," Starscream growled. "Get back here."

But for all Skywarp's ferocity in battle, Megatron thought as he walked out with a towel around his shoulders to hide the most of his scars, Skywarp was pathetic without his Alpha brother. Without Starscream, Megatron hated to admit, he might as well shoot the other two men. If you didn't have three Seekers, you had nothing.

Hot Rod gurgled up at his father, and he reached up with his stubby little fingers and pushed them into the rough skin around Megatron's jaw. The warlord pulled back and sighed, looking away from his child. "Stop," he murmured. "Do not."

But Hot Rod continued to pull at his sire, pull and push and poke as if examining him. Megatron wondered if the child thought that he had been stolen by a crazy mech looking to be a sire, but Hot Rod did it in a curious way, a way that suggested Hot Rod was thinking _What secrets does my daddy have? What makes him tick?_

If Hot Rod survived the war, he would make an excellent warrior.

Reflector, in his three parts, saluted the warlord when he saw him. Megatron's scars scared him, but it didn't frighten the decency out of the man. The only trouble men (and woman) on this ship besides the triplet Seekers were Soundwave's children.

As if on cue, Megatron felt invaders on his back.

"Aww, look at the little brat," cooed Frenzy, who tried to reach down and touch Hot Rod's cheek. They were the two oldest out of Soundwave's pack, and so they were grabby and fiercly devoted to both family and anyone friends with their master.

Rumble was less grabby than Frenzy and more respectful. He looked at Megatron quizzically and then when he was given a nod to proceed, he touched Hot Rod's knee. The child squealed in delight, making the smaller man duck behind Megatron's shoulder before peeking over the tan skin to see the smiling face of the child.

"Scared, Rumble?" Megatron altered his course slightly to visit Soundwave. The man had just adopted a new member to his pack, and he was eager to show Megatron. The warlord had put it off continually, not wanting to see what the man had discovered lurking around.

"I thought I hurt him."

"You couldn't hurt an Autobot if it crawled up to you and begged for mercy!" Frenzy jabbed at his brother. On the _Nemesis_ , Decepticons were taught at a very young age that giving mercy was to aim a gun at someone's head and fire. Rumble, for all his lessons, still found it hard to give mercy, but Megatron and Soundwave had faith in him. Rumble hated Autobots.

As soon as Megatron opened the door to Soundwave's quarters, he regretted it. Ravage pounced on him. No longer a kitten, Ravage was pure muscle. Megatron grabbed at the doorway to steady himself, clutching his son. Hot Rod could quite easily become Ravage's next meal.

"Ravage," Soundwave scolded in his strange, electronic voice. The man got up and cupped his hands so the warlord could see the new edition.

"It's a rat," Megatron said in a less-than-thrilled voice. "It's a rat with wings."

"Bat," Soundwave corrected as he adjusted the baby bat in his hands. "It is a bat."

"It's a ratbat. That is what you have commed me about? A ratbat?"

"Ratbat." Soundwave smiled at him, and Megatron growled. He had just assisted in naming another one of Soundwave's pets. First Ravage, then Frenzy, and now this Ratbat.

Ravage hopped onto the bed his owner was sitting on and Megatron scratched behind his ear, slowly laying his son between his paws. Ravage gazed down at the child before he laid his heavy head beside the baby's. Soundwave made a purring sound while he stroked his head.

"Could you watch him?" Megatron had things to do, and he couldn't do them if he had to stop and tend to Hot Rod.

Soundwave hesitated before he got up and checked his desk for bottles and formula. He had raised the twins Rumble and Frenzy since they were newborns on formula. When Soundwave found a surplus of both bottles and formula, he nodded and lifted Hot Rod off the bed. He made a displeased noise when he discovered the child only had a scrap of fabric covering his aft and interface equipment.

"Femmes raise sparklings," Megatron protested, and Soundwave shrugged. Soundwave was a natural sparkling-raiser. Megatron was not. The only reason Ravage liked him was because Megatron let the panther sprawl out on his lap whenever the cat felt lonely.

Soundwave discarded the scrap of fabric in favor of an actual diaper, showing Megatron how to put it on and remove it. Frenzy and Rumble made it their mission to embarrass the learning warlord, who growled and bared his teeth at the boys. Soundwave also dressed the child, setting the completely dressed baby in Megatron's arms and helping him hold him the right way before the man snatched him back and pointed to the door. Megatron was cleared to leave.

Starscream and his brothers were waiting for him in his office. Starscream was standing in front of his desk, Thundercracker at his left and Skywarp at his right a few steps back. It was a Seeker thing, a complex thing pounded into the Seekers since Day One of their lives. It was how they slept in their cribs, how they stood in front of their parents, how they flew. The formation they learned from Day One was essential, and failure to complete the formation exactly resulted in punishment.

The three men saluted Megatron at the same time. It was another thing they had to learn. Saluting at the same time, no lag or early twitch. Sometimes Megatron envied the Seekers, but not in this case.

He dismissed them. "Starscream, my _loyal_ second." He knew Starscream wasn't loyal, not on bit of the Seeker was devoted to any one cause. The fact that he pointed out by stressing a single word made the Seeker's brothers wince and lower their heads in shame. The mistake of one member of a trine weighed on the entire trine.

"Yes, my one true master?"

"What have you to report?"

"Silence."

There were many things the Seeker could have said to fill in the blank, and _silence_ was the one Megatron had not expected. He expected attacks on all sides now that he was weighed heavily with a child, but no. Optimus seemed to be taking his time to rest, and so would Megatron. They had many wounded. Blitzwing was still injured and Astrotrain unable to fly. He supposed it was good the Autobots had let up but _why_?

Starscream had an answer for everything. "We believe it is because of the child Hot Rod. You do recall when their Bumblebee was born and we gave them a month to recover?"

That truce had been accidental. Optimus had discovered the laboring woman the same moment Megatron rounded the corner to chop the Prime's head off his shoulders, but instead the warlord knelt in the bloody dirt to help deliver a tiny baby. They flipped for the child, Optimus won both woman and baby, and Megatron felt a twinge of empathy. _When that child walks, I expect to see you in battle._ Of course the child was born too early, so he was placed in the ICU in Iacon, but as soon as the child walked, Optimus told him as they locked blades, Optimus had sought the man out.

"We believe that the Autobots are repaying the favor."

Optimus was and forever will be a fair fighter, a debt-repayer, a forgiver. It sickened Megatron, and right now he felt sick enough to purge.

"Mm. Then we will make good on this truce."

"My lord?"

"Do not attack any Autobot ship or soldier until that child walks." And he got up. The Seekers saluted and Megatron dismissed them. "Now, leave me so I may lay with my child in peaceful rest."

He retrieved Hot Rod from Soundwave and he set the baby down on the bed, laying beside him as he sighed and stroked his soft, flawless skin. "Your uncle has given us time to rest. I will be with you for a while, but not for long. Truces end fast, and time flies when I lay around doing nothing."

Hot Rod was sleeping, his blue eyes closed and his hand curled around his father's finger. Megatron curled protectively around him and fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Hot Rod could crawl. Megatron watched as his formerly tiny creation crawled along the floor, sometimes sliding on his belly, but definitely crawling. He laughed and scooped him up, cradling him close even when one or all of the Seekers were in his office. He made sure Starscream saw that Megatron favored someone that wasn't him.

"My lord?"

"Hold on." Megatron set his child down on the floor under the desk where there were toys and blankets strewn about to keep him busy. He looked back up at Starscream, who was fuming.

"My lord, there have not been attacks due to Autobots in nearly a month."

Hot Rod was developing slower than Megatron thought. Was there something wrong with his child? He looked down at him and watched the little one babble nonsense to a stuffed bear Megatron had bought weeks before. "Da!" squeaked Hot Rod when he realised he was being watched. Megatron frowned at him a little, and the child went silent.

"I fear for our safety."

"Why? Because the Autobots are too weak to attack?"

"Because they could be building a bomb."

Megatron laughed and got up. Hot Rod went dead silent. "Starscream, my dear second..." Megatron laid his arm out on Starscream's shoulders, pulled him close. His hand hovered over the man's ear lobe. "What kind of technology do we have?"

"C-Cybertronian, my lord?"

"Cybertronian," Megatron said softly in agreement. "And that means..." His fingers pinched his ear lobe and tugged so hard, Starscream wondered if the bit of flesh was now relocated into Megatron's hand. "WE HAVE THE BETTER TECH, YES?"  
"OWWWWWWWWWWWW!"

Hot Rod giggled.

"I'll take that as a _yes, sir, my lord_ ," Megatron growled as he shoved Starscream away and into the hall. "Now do something useful!"

He went back to his desk and he sat down, moving Hot Rod back into his arms. He leaned back in the chair and he watched his son, not blinking when Shockwave walked in.

"My lord." He held out a file folder in his single hand. "What you requested."

On the tab was written in tiny, neat lettering: Chances Aleta is Still Alive.

In it was a single paper. Shockwave was very tidy and neat, and was extremely blunt with Megatron this time:

 _It is illogical that she is anywhere else but six feet under our pedes._

Megatron crumpled the paper in a fist and he lowered his helm until it rested on his son's. "You are...dismissed..."

Shockwave said something then that surprised the warlord. He hadn't expected those three words from his mouth, not in a hundred years.

"I am sorry," he whispered as he walked out. He closed the door behind him, and Megatron's shoulders dropped.

"I cannot believe she is really gone," he whispered to Hot Rod, who was surprisingly quiet and still as he listened to his father. He sighed and commed Soundwave, who was promptly in front of his desk with Laserbeak preening her feathers on his shoulder. She fanned her wings when Megatron walked closer and she perched on his shoulder instead, her leash looped around her leg tucked into Megatron's hand.

"Bathe him," Megatron said as he thrusted the child into his arms. "I don't know how..."

Soundwave touched his leader's jaw, moving his face this way and that while examining him. Then he nodded and took Megatron's hand. He tugged him to the wash racks.

Soundwave set up a plastic tub filled with water in a shower stall and he set Hot Rod down in it. He smiled up at the men looking down at him and he splashed in the water. "Wheeeee."

"Yeah, whee," Megatron muttered as he pulled Laserbeak off his shoulder. She cawed in frustation, fluttering madly onto Soundwave's shoulder.

When Hot Rod was clean, Megatron carried him out of the room and cradled the child to his chest. He paced with him, trying not to think about his dead mate. He closed his optics and breathed deeply the scent of his child, trying to make that the only thing that mattered.


	4. Chapter 4

Megatron found Optimus standing at the edge of Autobot territory and he hesitated. Hot Rod was with Soundwave, who had told the warlord to take a slight rest. A walk usually set things right with Megatron, and so he did.

Optimus smiled at him and held a bag over the border. Megatron slowly took it. "It is Energon," the Prime told him. "For the child."

Megatron slowly opened it and he peeked inside. Just as the Prime said. Energon, and the normal stuff. He frowned at the Prime.

"We have plenty of Low Grade."

Low Grade was a pale blue that only fueled the being that drank it for a couple days, while Energon fueled for months. High Grade should, logically, fuel for years, but it only fueled for a couple hours since it was so rich and potent.

Megatron accepted the bag, knowing Optimus wouldn't back down from this. "Thank you," he choked out and he looked down a little. "I...I wanted to thank you for giving us time to recover."

"Yes. How is your child?"

"Fine. He is fine...learning to walk," he said hesitantly. Would this truce be over? Astrotrain still was unfit to pilot his shuttle, the one that only answered to him.

Optimus gave an easy smile and sighed a little in longing. "Ah. They are most delightful at that age."

"Prime, how long will this truce last?"

"So long as the baby is a baby. The moment his teeth are in, I will seek you out."

"If I attack you first? Like, tomorrow?"

"Then the truce is over, and we will pull out all the stops to stop you and your army of Decepticons."

Megatron sighed and looked away. He had hoped for the Prime to disregard the fact that Megatron could attack and keep the truce open like a stupid Prime would do, but no. Optimus was too smart for that.

"I must be going now," Optimus said as he turned his back to the con, something he never would do in battle. "Have a good day, Megatron."

"And you, Optimus..."

 **ooo**

Hot Rod was crying for him when Megatron returned with the Energon gift. He lifted his son up and he cradled him, kissing his face as he cooed and he pulled the blanket down to see the child's face, and hesitated when he saw...

"Blood?" He unwrapped the baby and he undressed him, stopping when he saw the scratches on his chest. They were deep, and he could see pink flesh when he patted at the bloody wounds. He felt like purging, but he convinced himself to have enough control to walk down to Soundwave's quarters, and then purge on his floor.

Soundwave had Frenzy and Rumble clean the mess up while he ran to Hot Rod, and when he came back, he was fuming, Hot Rod squirming in his arms while bandages crinkled and rustled on his body.

"He desires his father," Soundwave said softly and he laid Hot Rod in his arms. "They wounds are consistent with Starscream's methods."

Megatron felt a surge of anger, and then the _Nemesis_ shook. Sometimes the grand warship shook because it ran out of fuel and someone at the command post had to switch it to reserves. Sometimes it was because they hit the wake of another warship. But this time, the _Nemesis_ shook because it was falling out of the sky.

Megatron clung to the bolted-down furniture and curled protectively around his son. Why was the _Nemesis_ falling? Optimus had said that he and his Autobots would not harm the Decepticons while Hot Rod was still a child. Why was the _Nemesis_ falling?

It was because of a well-placed blow to the ship's engines, and the cause of it was the unknowing Wheeljack, who had been searching the stars for more Energon with a damaged transmission receiver.

Optimus would have a few words to say to the Wrecker when he found out, but so far, no one knew about the falling _Nemesis_ that wasn't Decepticon.

Megatron braced for impact, and just before it happened, time seemed to freeze. Megatron wondered if he was dead.

 **ooo**

Optimus and First Aid crept into the remains of the Nemesis, following the groaned cries of the Decepticons as they hauled their charred and burning bodies out of the wreckage. They were shaking, all of them, their eyes wide and bleary while they tried to run. First Aid didn't run after them. There were things you just didn't do, and running after Decepticons was one of them.

They found Megatron unconscious and bleeding lightly out of his forehead. Starscream stood over him, trying to lift the beam off the man, and he growled lowly at them when they came closer.

"Where is the child?"

Starscream pointed at it, the charred baby that kicked and squirmed in its flaming blanket, weakly sobbing in pain. First Aid ran to it and he pulled him free, cradling him close.

"How did this happen?" Optimus took the baby gently.

"Primus knows," the man growled as he pulled Megatron free. "It was your Autobots' doing."

Optimus was about to object, but he stepped back and pulled First Aid away to give the men space. Megatron was unresponsive, and then Soundwave appeared, stepping through the smoke and assisting the skinny Seeker in lifting the beam.

Soundwave looked at the blackened baby and sighed, assuming it was dead since he didn't move or twitch or mew. "Keep it...I will tell Megatron when he wakes."

Optimus sighed as well and he walked away with First Aid, looking down at the baby in his arms. "Hello, Hot Rod...Sleep well."

Starscream and Soundwave carried Megatron away together and sire and creation were separated.

The heir to the Decepticon throne was lost.


End file.
